Former UN secretary-general heads to UCLan

A former secretary-general of the United Nations (UN) will deliver a free lecture at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) later this month.

Ban Ki-moon, who was the eighth UN Secretary-General, will visit UCLan’s Preston campus on October 25.

There he will deliver a talk entitled ‘Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Role of the Youth for a Sustainable and Resilient Future’.

The diplomat, who was at the helm of the UN from 2007 to 2016, will deliver the Kapuscinski Development Lecture in Harrington Building Lecture Theatre between 3pm and 5pm.

Dr Sojin Lim, course leader for MA North Korean studies and co-director of UCLan’s International Institute of Korean Studies, said: “It is a great honour to welcome such an important figure in world politics as Ban Ki-moon to our Preston campus to deliver a Kapuscinski Development Lecture.

 “He is known throughout the world for the work he did during his tenure as the UN secretary-general, including the adoptions of the 2015 SDGs and the Paris agreement on climate change.

“In this free lecture he will talk about how the youth, as a group of members of our society, can play their role for a resilient, as well as sustainable, future.”

Prior to joining the UN, he was South Korea’s minister for foreign affairs and trade. Currently, he serves as chairman of the Ban Ki-moon Foundation For a Better Future, and also works as chairman of the Global Green Growth Institute.

The lecture series is funded by the European Commission and is a joint initiative between the European Commission, the United Nations Development Programme and UCLan’s Institute for the Study of the Asia Pacific.